05/31/2022
Factors that Affect the Healing Process🤕
Below is a more in depth explanation of each contributing factor!
😰Severity: a severe injury where more tissue is damaged will take longer to heal
than a mild injury where there is little tissue damage.
🧓🏼Age: in older adults, there is a slowing of fibroblast production and wound contraction. Characteristics of collagen and elastin fibres
change. The skin loses its ability to hold water and becomes thinner.
🦠Infection: results in poor healing as it causes an increased inflammatory response and increased local tissue necrosis which will impair wound healing.
🥗Nutritional support: good vitamins and minerals from food are required for an adequate healing process.
🤒Existing conditions: conditions such as diabetes have associated vascular problems as well as causing an increased susceptibility to infection.
🩸Inadequate blood flow interferes with the local nutritional needs, removal of toxins, bacteria and debris and may be the result of edema.
🩹Wound separation: open wounds with a large gap will heal slower than smaller wounds.
💊Effects of some drugs: steroids inhibit the inflammatory process, collagen synthesis and, in turn, the healing process.
🚭Smoking: smoking delays healing and interferes with the actions of certain drugs.
Reference: Rattray, F. S., & Ludwig, L. (2019). Clinical massage therapy: Understanding, assessing and treating over 70 conditions.
